5 weeks 4 days: Prayers answered

My temp went all the way up to 98.57 today (a 0.4 jump).
I'm content at the moment, but my boobs are so small...

Tomorrow I will get another round of beta done... and also 3 more antibodies tests to check for clotting as requested by the fertility doctor.

Then the next day, I will brace myself for either more disappointment, or reassurance... scanning for a fetal pole and hearbeat.

Rise and fall of basal body temperature during luteal phase

Ok. So I did a little bit more research on the Internet in regards to what causes temperature to rise or fall during luteal phase (post ovulation).

I found the tryingtoconceive.com site:

The high levels of estrogen causes the temperatures to be low before ovulation. Following ovulation, progesterone levels rise causing temperatures to rise as well.

What is a slow-riser?
In some women, the thermal shift may be gradual over several days. They a called slow-risers, which means that it took a little longer for progesterone levels to rise high enough for temperatures to become elevated. This is a normal finding and does not affect fertility.

What is a "fallback" temperature?
Some women may see a drop in temperature the day or two after the thermal shift. It is likely due to a surge of estrogen. This is normal and does not affect fertility. It should rise again the next day.

My temps have dropped, then rises after that, then drops again, rise again. Is the estrogen in my body engaging in an epic battle with the progesterone?? I haven't gotten confirmation that high levels of estrogen causes your temp to drop... the only thing any website focuses on is that progesterone causes it to increase. So does this mean my progesterone levels keep dropping then increasing? :(

All I want to know is that there is enough progesterone for a healthy pregnancy. So, we'll probably have some answers on Wednesday.

Finally! FF detected my ovulation date.... for 3 days now I've been unsure if I ovulated at all this month because of such add temp patterns, as you can see above. You're supposed to have 3 consecutive temperature raises before ovulation is confirmed, so even though I got a positve from ovulation kit on CD12, I couldn't say 100% that I ovulated. Especially concerning was the temp drop on CD 15. Weird huh?

CD16 and 17, the temps continued to rise just slightly... so this morning when I found 97.66 (a drop) on my thermometer, my heart sank. Your temperature is supposed to keep raising, not drop, after ovulation, and especially if you get pregnant. But I think having my sleep disturbed towards dawn is what's causing these erratic temperatures. Who knows. All I know is I'm hoping to see dramatic drop for one day at around CD20-22, which would represent implantation. Or, second option is... nothing happens and I don't conceive, because I finally got the authorization for HSG testing today. :P So either way it would be a favorable outcome.

I guess this all makes me about 5 Day Post Ovulation (DPO). Could my boobs be starting to swell? It could be normal ovulation symptoms.

Fertilityfriend.com BBT charting

Here's my graph so far. I think it's pretty accurate to say I ovulated on the 12th, 13th, or 14th right? According to fertilityfriend, ovulation is confirmed after 3 consecutive temperature raises. My temp never decreased since the 12th, so I'm going to go with the first day of the positive. I need to pinpoint this to make sure getting the blood tests done tomorrow will be on schedule with my cycle phases. A day difference probably won't be that significant right? Right.

Also, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to fast... guess I'll fast and go to the lab super early so I won't starve.

By the way, I love this site www.fertilityfriend.com and am considering paying for the VIP membership for a month or so. I love all the tools and calculators!